Laptop-Leave the battery in or take out?

[Flattybasher9]

What is the number of the battery?

Regards

Malky

[smudwhisk]

Hello,

Sorry if there is some confusion with what I meant, but I did not say that we leave the batteries in the Laptops all the time.
In fact, the batteries are removed when not in use.
The battery life is the same as when we first purchased the Laptops, perhaps this was a fault in the beginning.

Jeanette H.

I've a HP Pavilion G6 which I purchased two years ago.  Originally the battery life was c3hrs of "standard" use, ie, nothing to power hungry, but over time this has dropped to about 2 hours on a full charge.  That said, it has lasted somewhat longer than my previous HP laptop battery which dropped to about an hour after only a year, but then battery technology has improved over the 8 years since it was purchased.  I purchased several compatibles batteries for it over its lifetime and they tended to retain battery charge far better than the original one had. 

As Groom has said, if you always use the laptop on the mains you will be affecting the life of the battery.  Most instructions will say that it should be removed from the mains once fully charged, then use off the mains until it needs charging again.  It doesn't have to be completely flat, although they do say the first time its used you should let it go completely flat as this helps to calibrate it, but as windows allows you to set alert levels, mine is set to 11% before it hibernates for low remaining battery level, I tend to start charging it between 13 and 11% remaining as the higher level is set as a warning in windows itself.

Unfortunately, using the laptop on the mains almost all the time will contribute to the eventually failing of the battery far earlier than if you didn't do this.

[Calverley Lad]

Be aware a certain online seller has resellers who supply counterfeit goods like laptop batteries!
What do you expect for, 25pounds against the 70pounds from the manufacturer?
[I found out the hard way, getting replacement laptop battery which lasted just 12months and 2camera batteries. (camera batteries being too big for charger and camera slot)
 Brian

[smudwhisk]

The last compatible laptop battery I purchased, for previous laptop, cost me £50 for a "heavy duty" one from an online retailer but not a certain auction site.  Its lasted far better than the original HP one did, and HP tended to charge about £100 for an original, although when it came to purchasing the last one I couldn't have got an HP anyway as they'd stopped making them.

CL is correct, £25 is a bit too good to be true for a laptop battery.   £40 or £50 isn't that bad a price but again, choose your sellers carefully and look at who they state the manufacturer was.  That's when google can become your best friend, a quick look for reviews can confirm or refute any concerns.

[Billyblue]

Interesting discussion. 
My first laptop battery lasted five years.  As nobody had told me about running it down, this had never been done, and I used it almost exclusively on the mains (except for when I forgot to switch it on at the mains, in the morning).  So this must have been a good brand (Toshiba).

Dawn M

[Trillian]

On a related note, it's also best not to switch a laptop off when the battery is fully charged. If you usually run it off the mains just simply unplug it ten minutes or so before you finish using it

[Billyblue]

On a related note, it's also best not to switch a laptop off when the battery is fully charged. If you usually run it off the mains just simply unplug it ten minutes or so before you finish using it

Why's that?

Dawn M

[Trillian]

On a related note, it's also best not to switch a laptop off when the battery is fully charged. If you usually run it off the mains just simply unplug it ten minutes or so before you finish using it

Why's that?

Dawn M

It supposedly causes the battery to loose capacity (ie over time the amount of charge it holds will decrease). I don't know the hows and whys but this is what a friend who works in IT advised me so I've always done it.

[Redroger]

I use a laptop as my main computer for space reasons in the house. It is always plugged in to the mains for general use, except around once a fortnight when I run if on battery power to keep the battery conditioned. I replaced the batter last year after 4 years service. The principal reason for keeping a battery is to safeguard against power cuts and consequent loss of data.